Qatar coach Julen Lopetegui insists his team are embracing the World Cup with ambition rather than pressure as they prepare for a key Group B encounter against co-hosts Canada on Thursday.
Qatar opened their campaign with an encouraging 1-1 draw against Switzerland, while Canada were also held to a 1-1 draw by Bosnia and Herzegovina. As a result, all four teams in Group B are level on one point heading into the second round of matches.
Despite the significance of the contest, Lopetegui said pressure is not a factor for his side.
“The word pressure is not in our mind,” he told reporters.
“When you follow a dream, you’re never under pressure. You have big ambition and great excitement because we have already achieved something that never happened before in Qatar’s history by being here.”
The Spaniard praised Qatar’s progress in recent years, highlighting the country’s investment in football development and infrastructure.
“Qatar is a small country, but with a big passion and a big investment in facilities and improvement every day,” he said.
Lopetegui added that his players have already moved on from the draw with Switzerland and are fully focused on the challenge posed by Canada.
“We are not thinking about what happened against Switzerland. Now we are only focused on facing a strong team.”
Qatar are aiming to improve on their only previous World Cup appearance in 2022, when they exited the tournament without earning a point despite hosting the competition.
Midfielder Abdulaziz Hatem believes the experience gained since then has helped the team mature.
“In 2022 there was a lot of pressure and maybe we didn’t have the experience,” Hatem said.
“But now we are here, we have the experience and we are ready.”
The midfielder acknowledged the difficulty of the task ahead but remains confident Qatar can continue making history.
“I hope we play a good game and continue making history. It won’t be easy, but I think we are capable of doing it.”
With Group B finely balanced, victory in Vancouver could put either side in a strong position to reach the knockout stage.
